Bordesley Rovers under-12s, winners of our December competition, took on Kingsbury in Division Five of the Central Warwickshire League and before anyone even had time to inflict a grass stain on the sparkling new outfit, they were 1-0 up - in less than 20 seconds.

A second goal quickly followed and they were on their way to an 8-2 victory.

Manager Trevor Ricketts said: "We have one lad, Cy Swain, and he has really been struggling to find the net - and he hit five. The kit has really given the lads a lift."

The team struck a chord with us with their constant battle to keep going with no sponsors in a deprived inner city area.

The club and their adult team started way back in 1956 but, according to Ricketts, the youth section was started much more recently by the police to get youngsters off the streets.

But when funding ran out five years ago, the police left and, unless the parents took over, kids' football was going to leave with them.

So Ricketts took on the mini-soccer side.

"No-one else wanted to do it so it was either get on with it or it would just have died," he said.

"We did not do too well in the first three seasons, we finished in the bottom three. We moved on to 11-aside and that seems to be our game.

"We are finishing higher and higher each season. We finished fourth last season and this season we are second and only a couple of games away from automatic promotion.

"Over the years we have struggled but we have kept the same kids, and we are getting better. Three are still from the original set-up with the police."

The old kit which the lads were playing in was a hand-me-down from an adult team, with repaired shirts, arms too long, holes and rips.

Ricketts said: "With some of the kids the sleeves were literally hanging on the floor.

"We did not really look the part but my brother, Alan Davis, offered to sponsor us and drew out his savings to buy some kit."

Alan's son, Reece, played in the team. With time, though, that kit was becoming faded, worn and too small and the team could not afford a new one.

Fund-raising, selling hot drinks at matches and so on, helped pay referee's fees, league and county fees and pitch hire but that was all.

The club has had to move three times in the past five years because it could not afford the pitch hire, eventually ending up on council pitches at Haybarns Recreation Grounds.

Ricketts is delighted his team won our competition, run in conjunction with www.nikefootykits.co.-uk, but will hardly be running around to celebrate.

The manager, who is 36 today, is a fork lift truck driver but has been off work for six months after damaging three discs in a work-related accident, which leaves him on up to 18 painkillers a day.

Not that he gets too much time to rest as, along with wife Amanda, he is only one child short of his own personal team with seven children of his own and three he is fostering, four girls and six boys in all, including son Jack who is in the team.

He said: "I wonder sometimes why I do it. But I enjoy it and my missus is an angel, she encourages me to do it as well."

The Birmingham Mail has teamed up with www.NikeFootyKits.co.uk to offer a full football kit every month to a lucky team.

The kit will include Nike shirt, shorts and socks for the whole team and will come complete with numbers and the Birmingham Mail sponsors logo.

For a chance to win tell us why your team deserves a new kit. Send your entry along with your name, age, and school/group name to roger.clarke@birminghammail.net